超级高铁公开首测 时速接近音速

Elon Musk's vision of a Hyperloop transport system that carries passengers in pressurised tubes at near-supersonic speeds is on track to hit a milestone.

伊隆·马斯克的超级高铁创想——加压密封车厢以近于超音速的速度运送乘客——即将见证里程碑式的新突破。

Musk outlined his futuristic idea in a paper released in 2013, challenging innovators to bring the dream to life.

马斯克2013年发表了一篇论文，阐述了这一未来设想，希望有富于改革创新精神的人将梦想变为现实。

Hyperloop Technologies, one of the startups that picked up the gauntlet thrown by Musk, is hosting a "sneak preview of the future of transportation technology" during a two-day event billed as involving a demonstration at a test site outside Las Vegas.

初创企业“超级高铁技术公司”接过了马斯克抛出的挑战。该公司近日将于拉斯维加斯郊外一处试验场进行为期两天的展示，给外界一个“未来交通技术预演”。

A series of tweets fired from the Twitter account @HyperloopTech teased "big announcements you don't want to miss".

公司推特账号@HyperloopTech连发数条推文，直呼“将有重大事项宣布，你肯定不想错过”。

- Kitty Hawk moment -

基蒂霍克时刻

Late last year, Hyperloop chief executive Rob Lloyd said in an online post that the team was working toward a "Kitty Hawk" moment in 2016. 

去年底，“超级高铁技术公司”CEO罗勃·劳埃德在一篇网帖中称，公司团队将于2016年缔造“基蒂霍克”时刻（背景知识：莱特兄弟1903年于北卡罗来纳的基蒂霍克首次试飞飞机成功）。

The post came with word of an agreement to use an industrial park in the city of North Las Vegas to conduct a Propulsion Open Air Test of the blazingly-fast rail system.

与网帖同时出现的还有一则消息：该公司已达成相关协议，将于拉斯维加斯北部一处工业园进行超级高铁的“露天推进试验”。

Lloyd described it at the time as a very important step on the way to realising the full potential of Hyperloop Tech.

劳埃德当时称，这是全面发挥“超级高铁技术公司”潜力的重要一步。

"Our 'Kitty Hawk' moment refers to our first full system, full scale, full speed test," Lloyd said.

他表示：“我们的‘基蒂霍克’时刻将首次展示全系统、全规模、全速度的高铁试验。”

"This will be over two miles of tube with a controlled environment and inside that tube we will levitate a pod and accelerate it to over 700 miles (1,125 kilometers) per hour."

“我们将布置超过两英里长的隧道，把控好隧道环境。隧道内悬浮的行驶舱，时速可达700英里（约1125公里）以上”。

- Iron Man - 

钢铁侠

The project could connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in 35 minutes in a low-cost alternative to a high-speed rail network planned for California. 

该项目将连接洛杉矶和旧金山，全程仅需35分钟，而且相对于加州计划中的高铁线路，该项目费用更低。

Musk has said he has no plans to build the system but offered the "open source design" to allow others to pursue a venture.

马斯克已表示，他无意亲身参与这种项目，但会把他的设计变成开源资源，供其他冒险家使用。

Jon Favreau, director of "Iron Man," has referred to Musk as a modern-day "Renaissance man."

《钢铁侠》导演乔恩·费儒认为马斯克是一个现代版的“文艺复兴式人物”。

In an article for Time, Favreau said he and actor Robert Downey Jr. modeled the main character in the movie -- "genius billionaire Tony Stark" -- after the Silicon Valley star.

费儒在一篇写给《时代》杂志的文章中称，影片主角之一“天才富豪托尼·斯塔克”，就是他和演员小罗伯特·唐尼以这位硅谷明星为原型创作的。

South Africa-born Musk has become one of America's best-known innovators, having launched a payments company, electric carmaker Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity.

出生于南非的马斯克是美国最著名的创新家之一。他创立过支付公司、电动汽车特斯拉、太空探索公司以及“天阳能城市”公司。